Email this article to a friend

Pay freeze, furloughs - what's not to like?

With pay raises likely on hold until (at least ) 2014 and furloughs in the offing,
lots of retirement-age federal and postal workers are asking themselves why they
get up in the morning and battle traffic just so they can be sequestered.

Unless they have gotten a within-grade increase or a
promotion in the last couple of years, most people are working at their 2010
salary level, although they are paying 2013 health insurance premiums. And for
most, their taxes went up in January.

From a dollars and cents standpoint, some long-time civil
servants figure they would have more spendable income in retirement (especially if
they tap their TSP) than they have now, after all those deductions.

For some pondering retirement, it isn't the money. It's the
job. Lots of people actually like their jobs. They know they are good at it. And
they understand that because they are doing what they do, others are safer,
healthier or more comfortable. Corny but true!

I have always been struck by the fact that when you talk to a
former newspaperman (like me), or an insurance agent, farmer or electrician they
say they "worked" at such-and-such for X number of years. But when you talk to
feds, most automatically say they "served." Just words and yet, maybe the
difference is a big difference. We in the private sector can be very proud of our
jobs and what we did. And many of us are. But when is the last time you heard
somebody say he "served" the Acme Insurance Company (forgive me, Wile E.
Coyote!) or "served" The Daily Bugle newspaper? Probably never. For
good
reason.

We private-sector wage slaves may feel as warm and fuzzy about
our jobs and careers as feds do. But we just don't feel like we "served" anybody.

So what are your thoughts about your job? Still like it? Still
worth doing? Or would you be be happier if somebody else were doing it, and you
could sleep late and take it easy? Let us know your thoughts. Maybe somebody on
Capitol Hill will take notice. Could it be that the current work-motivator
— the beatings will continue until morale improves — needs some
tweaking. Let us know.

Furloughs/Buyouts/Retirement Surge

Today's Your Turn radio show (10 a.m. EDT) is all about the likelihood of a government shutdown, furloughs, the big surge in retirement applications and buyouts. As in, when are the furloughs coming? Will they be for two days or 22 days?

Julia Ziegler, who has been tracking furloughs for FederalNewsRadio.com
will review different agency plans. Sean Reilly and Stephen Losey,
senior writers for the Federal Times, will look at the ongoing effects of
sequestration, the likelihood of an extended continuing resolution, the status of
the pay raise/freeze and the surge in retirement.

Listen if you can (1500 AM or online), and if you have questions email them to me at mcausey@federalnewsradio.com or
call in during the show at (202) 465-3080. The show will be archived here.

Columbia University students have been pilfering as much as $5,000 worth of
Nutella a week since the college began offering the chocolate-hazelnut spread in
campus dining halls at the beginning of the year.

Senate budget bill extends fed pay
freeze through 2013
Senate Democrats and Republicans released a 2013 government funding bill Monday
that includes language to extend the federal pay freeze through the end of the
calendar year, while providing additional funding for domestic priorities like
health research and highway projects.

DoD furloughs to begin April
26, with almost no exceptions
The vast majority of the Defense Department's civilian workforce will begin to
receive notifications as soon as next week that they should expect to be
furloughed for 22 days this year. Actual furloughs will begin before the end of
April, and there will be virtually no leeway as to whether an employee is
furloughed or for how long.

UPDATED: Sequestration
Tracker: Guide to agency furloughs
Along with hiring freezes, spending reductions, and curtailed travel and training,
many agencies are planning for furloughs. Find out how agencies have said they'll
slash their budgets to comply with the $85 billion in across-the-board cuts.